"European rugby nations, plus Italian clubs that do not play in Pro12. The default allocation of teams was as follows: The remaining two places were filled by the winners of the previous year's Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup. If the cup winners were already qualified through their domestic league, an additional team from their country would claim a Heineken Cup place (assuming another team was available). Accordingly, since Heineken Cup winners Toulon were already qualified through the Top 14, the extra French berth went to Perpignan. Also, since Amlin Cup winners Leinster were already qualified through the Pro12, the"
"Saracens F.C. Saracens Football Club () are an English professional rugby union team based in London, England. Established in 1876, they currently play in Premiership Rugby, the top level of domestic rugby union in England, and were the champions of the European Rugby Champions Cup, which they won twice consecutively, in 2016 and 2017. Since 2012, Saracens have played their home games at Allianz Park in Hendon, in the London Borough of Barnet; previous grounds have included Vicarage Road in Watford, and Bramley Road. The club's home playing colours are black and red. Saracens were founded in 1876 by the"
"the results will give evidence-based facts to improve measures for participant safety in contact sports."" Saracens F.C. Saracens Football Club () are an English professional rugby union team based in London, England. Established in 1876, they currently play in Premiership Rugby, the top level of domestic rugby union in England, and were the champions of the European Rugby Champions Cup, which they won twice consecutively, in 2016 and 2017. Since 2012, Saracens have played their home games at Allianz Park in Hendon, in the London Borough of Barnet; previous grounds have included Vicarage Road in Watford, and Bramley Road. The"
"at the RFU home stadium. The match saw Saracens earn a record, for the biggest winning margin in a Heineken Cup semi-final. Saracens overtook Leicester Tigers 37 point winning margin over London Wasps, by three, after they won 46–6 over Clermont. They kept Clermont scoreless in the second half, and scored six tries in the 80 minutes. This meant they would final progress to the Heineken Cup Final, and would face the defending champions. Under a closed roof at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, the match kicked off at 5pm. Within three minutes, Owen Farrell had put Saracens into the"
"were played against CSM Știința Baia Mare. Timișoara won 8 out of 8 finals (in the SuperLiga, Romanian Cup and King's Cup) they played against Baia Mare. The Timișoara Saracens squad for the 2018–19 Superliga season is: Timișoara Saracens Timișoara Saracens SCM UVT is a professional Romanian rugby union club from Timișoara, which plays in the SuperLiga CEC Bank, the first division of Romanian rugby. The team first won the championship in 1972, becoming the first club outside Bucharest to achieve this performance. In the modern format of the SuperLiga, Timișoara Saracens won 4 titles in 6 seasons. The team"
"2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup The 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup was the third European Rugby Champions Cup championship (22nd overall), the annual rugby union club competition for teams from the top six nations in European rugby. The competition replaced the Heineken Cup, which was Europe's top-tier competition for rugby clubs for the first nineteen years of professional European rugby union. The opening round of the tournament took place on the weekend of 14/15/16 October 2016. The final took place on 13 May 2017 at Murrayfield in Edinburgh. English side Saracens were the 2015–16 champions, having beaten Racing 92 of"
"79th minute for a final score of 21–9 in favour of Saracens. Maro Itoje was named Man of The Match. Saracens became the first team to win the competition by winning all their matches. 2016 European Rugby Champions Cup Final The 2016 European Rugby Champions Cup Final was the final match in the 2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup, and the twenty-first European club rugby final in general. It was contested by French side Racing 92, and Saracens of England, at the Grand Stade de Lyon, in the Lyon suburb of Décines, France, on Saturday 14 May 2016. Saracens defeated Racing"
"Stadium. On 24 August 2013 their Year 7 Rugby team played RGS High Wycombe in the annual schools curtain-raiser to the Challenge Cup final. This was Castleford Academy's 4th appearance at the stadium since 2007. This puts them joint with Leeds and one appearance ahead of Warrington. The first top level rugby union match was a non-cap match between the Barbarians and Australia on 3 December 2008. Between 2009 and 2017. The stadium was used regularly by Saracens for some major Aviva Premiership, Heineken Cup and International matches. Their Aviva Premiership clash with Harlequins in 2012 was played before a"
"In the Premiership, Saracens beat the Quins 31–17 in the semi-finals, while they also failed to get out of their group in the 2013–14 LV Cup. The Quins dropped even further down the table during the 2014–15 Aviva Premiership, finishing 8th overall, which also meant they dropped out of the top flight European tournament. Though with that, they made it all the way to the final of the 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup, but was defeated by Montpellier 26–19, which was O'Shea's last match in charge of the Quins. On 20 January 2016, Harlequins announced that he would be leaving"
"the competition due to their participation in this season's Challenge Cup and to their success in last season's Continental Shield. The winners of the Enisei-STM v Krasny Yar play-offs will go through to the Continental Shield final in Bilbao and will also qualify for the 2018–19 Challenge Cup. The aim of the Continental Shield is to widen the footprint of club rugby across Europe and to give both emerging and established clubs in different territories the opportunity to qualify for the Challenge Cup. Despite Heidelberger RK defeating Timișoara Saracens with the aggregate score of 47-41 and going into the Challenge"
"Toulon. In 2015 Mark McCall's Saracens won the Aviva Premiership against Bath 28-16. The 2015/16 season saw McCall take his team to even higher heights by successfully completing the double. Saracens successfully retaining the Aviva Premiership trophy by defeating Exeter 28-20 while defeating Racing 92 in the second final of the European Champions Cup. McCall's rotation strategy proved particularly successful, enabling Saracens to win all 9 games in the Cup - a first in European rugby.. While McCall has been significantly quieter in the media than his predecessor, he openly challenged the timing of an England training session shortly before"
"their annual ""Derby Day"" clash against Harlequins at the London Stadium on 24 March 2018. This was the first time since 2010 that this fixture did not take place at Wembley. The match ended in a 24-11 win for Saracens in front of a crowd of 55,329 and was the first ever Premiership Rugby match at the stadium. Both teams would return to the stadium the following year in a repeat of the fixture. The stadium is located in the south of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Stratford and Stratford International railway stations are the main stations nearest to the Olympic"
"joined by Romania's Timisoara Saracens, RC Batumi from Georgia, Heidelberger RK of Germany and Portugal's Centro Desportivo Universitario de Lisboa (CDUL Rugby) competing in two pools of four. Following the pool stage matches, the winner of Pool A will play the runner-up in Pool B, and the winner of Pool B will play the runner-up in Pool A on a home and away basis. The two clubs which advance will then play each other home and away with the winner securing a place in the Continental Shield final in Bilbao next May and also qualifying for the 2018/19 Challenge Cup."
"Cup for the first time, Heidelberger RK have been disqualified from the Challenge Cup so Timișoara Saracens will replace them. Clubs from Italy, Georgia and Belgium will compete in the 2018/19 Continental Shield with a valuable place in the Challenge Cup up for grabs. Four sides from the Italian Eccellenza – Argos Rugby Petrarca, Pataro Calvisano, Femi-CZ Rugby Rovigo Delta and GS Fiamme Oro Rugby – will be joined by Georgia's RC Locomotive Tbilisi and Belgian representatives, Belgium Rugby Barbarians XV, competing in two pools of three. Locomotive Tbilisi, Calvisano and Fiamme Oro from Rome have been drawn in Pool"
"less in the news than his predecessor, who was penalised several times for speaking against rugby's organising bodies, was notable in attacking the difficulties being faced by English teams within the Heineken Cup. He has also appeared in the news for his radical increasing of the rotation system at Saracens, despite occasional controversy, either on account of lost chances by Saracens or accusations that rotational policy undermines the sport. Although this seems to be successful for McCall. McCall defeated Harlequins to win Saracens' first European Semi-final to led Saracens to the Heineken Cup Final in 2014 where they lost to"
"12,500-seat purpose-built rugby stadium. VVA Saracens have won the title eight times, in 1993, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. They were also nine-time winners of the Soviet Championship. March 2011 saw two stars depart for Aviva Premiership clubs, with Moldovan international Vadim Cobîlaş joining former Russia coach Steve Diamond at Sale Sharks and Russian international Vasily Artemiev joining Northampton Saints. -> Sale Sharks VVA Saracens The VVA Saracens, ""formally known as VVA-Podmoskovye"", is a Russian rugby union team currently playing in the Professional Rugby League, under the Saracens global network after joining the Network in 2013. The"
"club to win three European titles in a row. Following the November 2015 Paris attacks, all Round 1 games due to take place in France that weekend were called off, along with the Round 2 fixture between Stade Français and Munster. Rescheduling of some matches was difficult, partly caused by fixture congestion due to the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Saracens won their first title defeating Racing 92 in Lyon 21–9 in 2016 final and followed it up with their second in 2017, beating Clermont 28–17 in Edinburgh. In 2017/2018 season, Leinster overcame the ""pool of death"" consisting of Glasgow Warriors"
"A while Pool B is made up of Petrarca, Belgium Rugby Barbarians XV and Rovigo. Clubs in the same pool will play one another on a home and away basis and the two pool winners will then play off over two legs to decide which club qualifies for the 2019/20 Challenge Cup. A further place in the 2019/20 Challenge Cup will be decided by a home and away play-off between Russia's Enisei-STM and Timisoara Saracens of Romania who are both competing in this season's Challenge Cup. The aim of the Continental Shield is to widen the footprint of club rugby"
"Timișoara Saracens Timișoara Saracens SCM UVT is a professional Romanian rugby union club from Timișoara, which plays in the SuperLiga CEC Bank, the first division of Romanian rugby. The team first won the championship in 1972, becoming the first club outside Bucharest to achieve this performance. In the modern format of the SuperLiga, Timișoara Saracens won 4 titles in 6 seasons. The team is colloquially known as ""Universitatea"" Timișoara as it has historical ties with the University of Timișoara. In 2014 the club became a partner of London-based Saracens rugby club. In 1949, CSUT (Club Sportiv Universitar Timișoara) played its"
"2017 European Rugby Champions Cup Final The 2017 European Rugby Champions Cup Final was the final match in the 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup, and the twenty-second European club rugby final in general. It was contested by defending champions Saracens of England and French side Clermont at Murrayfield, in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Saturday 13 May 2017. Saracens retained the trophy after claiming a 28–17 victory. Reigning champions Saracens entered the final aiming to defend their title, having won the Champions Cup for the first time when they defeated Racing 92 by 21–9 in the 2016 final. The club was also"
"they ran off four wins in succession before a shock loss to Premiership newcomers Exeter Chiefs. They crashed out of the Heineken Cup in the pool stage, finishing bottom of a tough pool that featured Leinster, the ultimate Heineken Cup winners, and Clermont and Racing Métro, both of which made the French semi-finals. Saracens' domestic form, however, proved much stronger; they secured a home semi-final with one league match left, defeating Harlequins on the final day to complete a run of ten straight victories, including away at Northampton, Wasps, Exeter and Leicester Tigers. In the regular season Saracens won more"
"and established clubs in different territories the opportunity to qualify for the Challenge Cup. ""Timișoara Saracens won 32–18 on aggregate."" ""Heidelberger RK won 51–42 on aggregate."" ""Enisey-STM won 74–48 on aggregate."" ""Heidelberger RK won 47–41 on aggregate."" 2017–18 European Rugby Continental Shield The 2017–18 European Rugby Continental Shield is a rugby union competition, organised by European Professional Club Rugby, Rugby Europe and the Federazione Italiana Rugby, for entry into the European Rugby Challenge Cup. The format of the Qualifying Competition remains similar to the previous season. As before, two places in the next year's Challenge Cup will be available for"
"crowd of 83,761, a world record for a rugby union club match. In 2014, the teams faced again in front of 83,889 spectators. The 2015 match between Saracens and Harlequins had a new world record attendance for a club game of rugby union with 84,068. The stadium was also used during the 2015 Rugby World Cup, during which it hosted two pool matches: The 89,019 crowd for the New Zealand versus Argentina game set a new record attendance for a Rugby World Cup game. The Ireland versus Romania match one week later improved this record again to 89,267. Although the"
"VVA Saracens The VVA Saracens, ""formally known as VVA-Podmoskovye"", is a Russian rugby union team currently playing in the Professional Rugby League, under the Saracens global network after joining the Network in 2013. The team plays at Gagarin Air Force Academy stadium in Monino, a garrison town just outside Moscow. VVA-Podmoskovye have strong links to the air force and also supply the bulk of Russia, with which they share a head coach, Nikolai Nerush. The team has ambitious plans for the future - it is lobbying hard for inclusion in the European Challenge Cup and is close to completing a"
"last minute penalty from Ben Spencer claiming Saracen's second Cup win. In the first iteration of the European Rugby Champions Cup Saracens made it to the Semi-Finals before losing to ASM Clermont In the boardroom, CEO Edward Griffiths departed and was replaced by Heath Harvey, a former director at Club Wembley. Following the Saracens tour of Japan, they have developed a relationship with Fukuoka Sanix Blues. They played Sanix at Global Arena at the start of Buck Shelford's reign as head coach and won comfortably, but they had a harder game on the same tour in Tokyo against Suntory Sungoliath."
"Leicester. Leicester would have to wait until 2012–13 for their 10th championship, where they defeated Northampton in the final. The 2013–14 Aviva Premiership season saw Northampton become the 8th different team to win the trophy. This was achieved when they defeated Leicester Tigers in the semi-final 21–20, thus denying Leicester a 10th Consecutive Final. In the final, they defeated Saracens 20–24 with a try in the last minute of extra time to win the 2013–14 Aviva Premiership. With the future of the Heineken Cup uncertain beyond 2013–14, due to a row between England's Premiership Rugby Limited and France's LNR on"
"unbeaten European games – a record stretching back to the first round of the 2015–2016 cup. 2017 European Rugby Champions Cup Final The 2017 European Rugby Champions Cup Final was the final match in the 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup, and the twenty-second European club rugby final in general. It was contested by defending champions Saracens of England and French side Clermont at Murrayfield, in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Saturday 13 May 2017. Saracens retained the trophy after claiming a 28–17 victory. Reigning champions Saracens entered the final aiming to defend their title, having won the Champions Cup for the first"
"cultural affinity.) All times are local times. The final was played at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. 2009–10 Heineken Cup The 2009–10 Heineken Cup was the 15th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. It started in October 2009 and ended on 22 May 2010 with the final at Stade de France in which Toulouse defeated Biarritz 21 – 19 to win the trophy for the fourth time. Seven English teams participated, as an English team, Leicester Tigers, progressed further in the previous"
"known as the Heineken Cup but was changed to European Rugby Champions Cup, following disagreements between its shareholders over the structure and governance of the competition. Heineken returned as sponsor for the 2018–19 season, running the competition alongside the EPCR, resulting in the competition being known as the Heineken Champions Cup. Leinster are the current holders of the title, having won their fourth title by beating Racing 92 in the 2018 final. Leinster Rugby and Toulouse have both won the competition a record four times. The Heineken Cup was launched in the summer of 1995 on the initiative of the"
"Ben Spencer (rugby union) Ben Spencer (born 31 July 1992) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for Saracens in the Gallagher Premiership. Spencer represented Cambridge during the 2010–11 National League 1 season. In August 2011, after impressing during a pre-season trial, Spencer signed for Saracens. In March 2015, Spencer kicked a last-minute penalty as Saracens defeated Exeter Chiefs 23-20 in the final of the Anglo-Welsh Cup. In May 2016, Spencer was a second-half substitute for Richard Wigglesworth as Sarries defeated Racing 92 to win the European Rugby Champions Cup for the first time. The"
"tournament was won for the first time by Saracens who beat Racing 92 in the final on the 14 May 2016, at Parc Olympique Lyonnais (called ""Grand Stade de Lyon"" by competition organiser European Professional Club Rugby) in the Lyon suburb of Décines. 20 clubs, from the three major European domestic leagues, competed in the Champions Cup. Nineteen clubs qualified directly as a result of their domestic league performance, with the final team coming from a play-off. The distribution of teams was as follows: The following teams took part in play-off matches to decide the final team in the Champions"
"2002 Heineken Cup Final The 2002 Heineken Cup Final was the final match of the 2001–02 Heineken Cup, the seventh season of Europe's top club rugby union competition. The match was played on 25 May 2002 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff; this was the third time the final had been played in Cardiff after the 1996 final won by Stade Toulouse and 1997 final won by CA Brive but the first since the substantial redevelopment of the ground for the 1999 Rugby World Cup. The match was contested by Leicester Tigers of England and Munster of Ireland. Munster were"
"2016–17 Premiership Rugby The 2016–17 Premiership Rugby was the 30th season of the top flight of English domestic rugby union competition, and the seventh to be sponsored by Aviva. The competition was broadcast by BT Sport for the fourth successive season. Highlights of each weekend's games were shown on ITV with extended highlights on BT Sport. The reigning champions entering the season were Saracens, who claimed their 3rd title (and 2nd consecutively) after defeating Exeter Chiefs in the 2015–16 final. In the final on 27 May, Exeter Chiefs defeated Wasps 23-20 to win their first ever Premiership title. After just"